


A thought for a thought

by SerenPedac



Series: A sprinkling of leaves [2]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Book 2, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:00:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenPedac/pseuds/SerenPedac
Summary: While preparing for a meeting, Dinah keeps getting distracted by the view.Or: Dinah wants to open up about her feelings for Nate, but it's scary, you know?
Relationships: Female Detective/Nathaniel "Nate" Sewell
Series: A sprinkling of leaves [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023595
Comments: 8
Kudos: 18





	A thought for a thought

Dinah goes over the words on the page before her for what might be the third or fourth or even fifth time, and she knows she should try to concentrate, take in those words. Sounds easy enough, but with Nate reading a book opposite her, it has become the hardest task in the world. Preparing for the Station’s monthly meeting at the Warehouse, after training with Morgan, had seemed like a good idea, a great idea even, but her reason for staying had quickly turned into a distraction. Not unwelcome, far from it, but not exactly convenient either.

Nate’s brow furrows in concentration and his lips part slightly and just like that the papers in front of her are forgotten again. He looks so very kissable, all focused like this. She would like that, would like to kiss him over and over. His beautiful lips pressing against hers, soft, warm, moving slowly. Her tongue darts out to tease him and he responds by pulling her closer, their kiss turning passionate. Her body curves against his, wanting, wanting, wanting… _him_. Breathless (her or him, she doesn’t know) they pull back, his lazy smile sending flutters down her stomach.

The exact kind of smile he has right now.

She blinks. 

The smile remains.

“Thinking interesting thoughts?” When she doesn’t respond, Nate continues, “You have been staring ahead”— _at me_ , but he doesn’t say that—“for a while now.”

Heat flushes up to her cheeks. _A while?_ It can’t have been that long, can it? 

“I was thinking about”—Dinah grasps one of the papers, reading the first thing that catches her eye—“what coffee brand we should have at the station?” How is that of enough importance to be an item on their agenda? One of the first items, even.

“A topic I would like to hear your opinion on. Unless you’ve not yet reached any conclusions? I wouldn’t want to distract you, of course.”

He can’t know what she was thinking, Dinah tries to tell herself, but the knowing glint in his eyes suggests otherwise, his choice of words too much of a coincidence. “Just to be clear, you can’t read my mind, can you?”

He chuckles and shakes his head. “I assure you, no mind reading.” Amusement makes place for curiosity and she knows her question was a mistake. “But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to know. Would you mind sharing?”

The clock ticks away the seconds as she thinks of what to say. She traces the woodgrain of the table with a finger, swirling around a knot, the pattern bringing her ever closer to his side until the motion of Nate leaning over and placing his hand on the table makes her stop. His hand lies open, inviting. 

Drawn by some invisible force, her fingers wander over there, coming to a halt against his thumb, the ring there gleaming dully. He doesn’t withdraw. Slowly, very slowly, she follows the lines on his palm, going back and forth over his warm skin and she wonders if her touch leaves the same tingles as those running down her spine at the strangely intimate gesture. She traces each of his long fingers, circling around the fingertips before moving back down again and, oh, how unfair that she is the one left flustered.

She looks up to find he has closed his eyes in easy trust. But trusting is never that easy, is it? Not after that trust has been shattered once, twice, or times beyond counting. In all the years he has lived, he has to have known that sinking disappointment, heartbreak perhaps, yet he has been open about his interest in her. Unafraid or at least a whole lot braver than she is.

Dark lashes blink open, his eyebrows quirking up in question and she realises her hand lies still in his. Somehow it feels easy, easier than it should, almost as if it belongs there.

“How about an exchange? A thought for a thought.” He smiles at her, kind and gentle.

He truly wants to know her thoughts, to understand her, his attention unwavering. And she? She wants to tell him. Anything. Everything. How he is the first person she looks for, not just when entering the Warehouse, but everywhere. How her heart flutters at his smile (but he must already know that, right?), how she is so in love with him that it _hurts_.

Saying that would be enough to scare off anyone.

As Dinah pulls back her hand, his fingers curl like he wants to hold on to the remnant of her touch. A hint of sadness creases his brow, the expression gone as quickly as it appeared, but not before making her heart drop. She never meant to hurt him.

“Okay, an exchange.” One thought after another is discarded until she finds the words to lighten the mood, or so she hopes. “In case you haven’t guessed, and I know you have, you _were_ distracting me. I was thinking that you look very beautiful when you’re concentrating. Very beautiful and very distracting and I would like to—” She shakes her head. “No, one thought.”

Nate stays quiet, searching her face with an intensity that has all those tingly sensations run up and down her spine once more. Warm brown eyes read each and every word she left unsaid and she can’t look away. Isn’t sure she wants to.

After what might have been an eternity, she says in a whisper, “Nate, your turn.”

“Of course.” His voice is calm, composed, and how he manages that is beyond her. “I was wondering what it would feel like, pressing my mouth to your hair, softly, then to your cheek, your—” A smirk. “Wait, one thought, wasn’t it?”

Before she can object that that thought was nowhere near completed, her phone buzzes. Tina. The meeting!

A relieved sigh escapes her at seeing she still has time. Tina’s message is only to ask her if she can drop by Haley’s to get some pastries for the meeting. Probably needs the sugar rush to stay awake. Dinah replies she will, it’s only a brief detour after all, though she should account for some five or ten minutes extra, seeing as Haley likes to catch up whenever she drops by. So that leaves her with… a few minutes to pack up her stuff and say goodbye.

While she stacks the papers together and puts them in her bag, Nate gets her jacket.

“Will you be all right?” he asks when he gets back.

Smiling at the genuine concern in his voice, she puts on her jacket and is about to tell him it will be fine—without the captain there, they won’t make it past the coffee discussion anyway—when she remembers the half-finished thought he left her with. He won’t get away this easily, not when she will be spending the rest of the day wondering ( _knowing_ ) where he was going with that.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she says, “You play unfair, you know that?”

“Do I?” His lips curve in the sweetest and most exasperating smile. “Perhaps you could come back later to hear the rest. We might even have another exchange of thoughts.” Smart. Still unfair. Like he knows his charming words aren’t enough, he reaches out to brush aside a curl that has escaped her bun. His fingers linger on her cheek, a soft touch, a caress.

Her heart beats loud in the silence between them (he has to hear that).

“Or you could… demonstrate?” She bites her lip, his gaze flickering to her mouth at the movement. “Right now?”

His hand slides down to her neck and her breath catches and he leans in and her head is spinning and—

Her foot catches behind something—her bag, she realises belatedly—and Nate grips her shoulders to keep her from stumbling right into him. Embarrassing, but not quite embarrassing enough that she wants him to let go. He doesn’t seem to want that either, his grip relaxing but not releasing after he finishes his brief inspection to make sure she’s fine. 

In the silence that follows, the warmth of his touch seeps through the layers of her clothes. All she has to do is lean a little closer—

Her phone buzzes again, because of course it would. The unwelcome interruption makes even Nate glare at where it's thrumming on the table. 

“I…” She shrugs, wordless. Their time together sometimes feels like little more than a string of goodbyes and it would be nice, so nice, to be able to stay for once.

“Will see you soon?”

“Soon,” she echoes. It sounds better than a goodbye

Crinkles appear around his eyes when he smiles and he slides his hands down her arms to take hers, holding them for a heartbeat before letting go, but when she goes over the moment again and again later that day, he doesn’t. Doesn’t let go.

**Author's Note:**

> I promise there will be many, many kisses for these two. Just not quite yet.


End file.
